Video surveillance cameras are often used for monitoring areas inside or outside buildings. Examples of monitored areas include parking lots, casinos, hospitals, or government buildings. These video surveillance cameras capture video images and other data from the monitored areas and typically send those video images to a control system and/or network video recorder (NVR).
One type of video surveillance camera is a pan, tilt, zoom (PTZ) camera system. A PTZ camera system rotates or pans a camera about a vertical axis and also changes the direction of or tilts the camera to capture different scenes within the monitored areas. Some PTZ camera systems are programmed to automatically pan and tilt the cameras based on pre-set viewing selections or patterns or automatically based on computer image analysis of the video images.
Typically, a PTZ camera system includes a camera base that is attached to the ceiling or to an arm for connection to the wall of a building. The PTZ camera system also includes a rotating camera pan bearing for enabling the camera to pan in different directions. The PTZ camera system also includes an electronics board for controlling the camera. Electronics on the electronics board generate a significant amount of heat during operation. These electronics are typically cooled with heat sinks and/or fans.